MCI clears joint medical test proposal, ball in govt court

MCI clears joint medical test proposal, ball in govt court

The Narendra Modi government seems keen to push for a common entrance test for medical colleges across the country. An earlier effort to implement such a system had failed in 2013.

The Medical Council of India (MCI), at its general body meeting on October 1, approved a joint proposal of the health ministry and the MCI to have a unitary 'Common Entrance Test' to be held by a designated authority for admission to MBBS and post-graduate medical courses, sources said.

MCI sources said the joint proposal was unanimously adopted by the GBM and it was for the ministry now to take the matter further. Sources also said MCI was in favour of an amendment to the Medical Council of India Act, 1956 to ensure proper implementation of the new system. Government sources, however, said even an "executive order" would be good enough to implement the change.

Asked about the GBM, secretary in-charge of MCI Dr Reena Nayyar said, "The matter was placed before the general body though nothing can be said till the minutes are finalised."

In fact, top ministry sources told TOI that health minister J P Nadda is considering this matter very "seriously" and is taking precautions to ensure that it does not fall through this time as it did in 2013. So far, "all signals are positive" in this direction, said a top government source.

With Vyapam and other scams blighting entrance tests, both MCI and the government feel a common entrance test would be the best way to benefit students and get rid of corruption in the system.

The move to have a common entrance test for medical students across the country was first initiated in 2009, when MCI was headed by Dr Ketan Desai.

The Supreme Court had, in June 2013, ruled the MCI's notification for holding common entrance tests for MBBS, BDS and post-graduate medical courses as invalid. A three-judge bench by a 2:1 verdict held that the notification was against the Constitution. The majority verdict by the then Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir and Justice Vikramajit Sen said MCI was not empowered to prescribe all India medical entrance tests.

The bench said the MCI notification was in violation of Articles 19, 25, 26, 29 and 30 of the Constitution. Justice A R Dave had dissented from the view. The court's decision had come on 115 petitions challenging the MCI notification on NEET for admission to MBBS and post-graduate medical courses conducted in colleges across the country.

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